diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9ca3e1b..8823acd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -381,6 +381,13 @@ platform marks unified signals as required, failure to resolve a valid artifact
 should fail fast; only validated `last_valid` artifacts inside the configured
 stale window are an acceptable fallback.
 
+The scheduled IBIT BTC daily handoff uses a 48-hour freshness limit because
+the UTC daily candle carries its opening timestamp while the completed candle
+is published the next day and consumed during the US trading afternoon. This
+limit still rejects a missed daily publication before the following US session;
+other bundle builders retain their 36-hour default. Do not advance the source
+timestamp to the publish time or reuse an older candle to pass this check.
+
 Platform CI can then validate one handoff manifest before loading the linked
 bundle:
 
diff --git a/scripts/publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py b/scripts/publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py
index ce3d594..9fc4211 100644
--- a/scripts/publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py
+++ b/scripts/publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 DEFAULT_CONSUMER = "us_equity:ibit_smart_dca"
 DEFAULT_STRATEGY = "ibit_smart_dca"
 DEFAULT_GCS_PREFIX = "gs://qsl-runtime-logs-shared/platform_handoffs"
+# BTC UTC daily bars are timestamped at their opening midnight. The next
+# completed bar is published before the following US trading afternoon.
+IBIT_BTC_DAILY_MAX_AGE_HOURS = 48
 
 
 def default_as_of(*, today: date | None = None) -> str:
@@ -136,6 +139,8 @@ def build_ibit_btc_platform_handoff(
             code_commit,
             "--generated-at",
             generated_at,
+            "--max-age-hours",
+            str(IBIT_BTC_DAILY_MAX_AGE_HOURS),
         ]
     )
     if build_exit != 0:
diff --git a/src/market_signal_sources/cli/build_btc_cycle_bundle.py b/src/market_signal_sources/cli/build_btc_cycle_bundle.py
index e9e9450..c466872 100644
--- a/src/market_signal_sources/cli/build_btc_cycle_bundle.py
+++ b/src/market_signal_sources/cli/build_btc_cycle_bundle.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ def main(argv: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
             generated_at=args.generated_at,
             provider_timestamp=provider_metadata.provider_timestamp,
             freshness_status=args.freshness_status,
+            max_age_hours=args.max_age_hours,
             license_scope=provider_metadata.license_scope,
             generated_by=provider_metadata.generated_by,
         )
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ def _build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     )
     parser.add_argument("--generated-at", required=True)
     parser.add_argument("--freshness-status", default="fresh")
+    parser.add_argument("--max-age-hours", type=int, default=36)
     parser.add_argument("--date-column", default="date")
     parser.add_argument("--close-column", default="close")
     parser.add_argument("--high-column", default="high")
diff --git a/tests/test_publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py b/tests/test_publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py
index fb7112c..ae1cd39 100644
--- a/tests/test_publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py
+++ b/tests/test_publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import json
 from datetime import date
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -9,9 +10,14 @@
 from scripts.publish_ibit_btc_platform_handoff import (
     BINANCE_BTCUSDT_DAILY_URLS,
     _provider_name_for_url,
+    build_ibit_btc_platform_handoff,
     default_as_of,
     resolve_as_of,
 )
+from market_signal_sources.artifacts.validation import (
+    SignalBundleValidationError,
+    validate_signal_bundle,
+)
 
 
 def _write_btc_csv(path: Path, dates: list[str]) -> None:
@@ -62,3 +68,24 @@ def test_provider_name_for_url() -> None:
     assert _provider_name_for_url(BINANCE_BTCUSDT_DAILY_URLS[0]) == "binance_vision_public"
     assert _provider_name_for_url(BINANCE_BTCUSDT_DAILY_URLS[1]) == "binance_us_public"
     assert _provider_name_for_url(BINANCE_BTCUSDT_DAILY_URLS[2]) == "binance_public"
+
+
+def test_ibit_daily_handoff_remains_fresh_through_next_us_trading_afternoon(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    csv_path = tmp_path / "btc.csv"
+    dates = pd.date_range(end="2026-09-24", periods=800, freq="D")
+    _write_btc_csv(csv_path, [day.date().isoformat() for day in dates])
+    artifacts = build_ibit_btc_platform_handoff(
+        work_dir=tmp_path / "output",
+        input_csv=csv_path,
+        as_of="2026-09-24",
+        code_commit="a" * 40,
+        source_version="0.1.1",
+    )
+    bundle = json.loads(
+        (artifacts["publication_dir"] / "bundle" / "signal_bundle.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    )
+    assert bundle["freshness"]["provider_timestamp"] == "2026-09-24T00:00:00Z"
+    assert bundle["freshness"]["max_age_hours"] == 48
+    validate_signal_bundle(bundle, now="2026-09-25T19:45:00Z")
+    with pytest.raises(SignalBundleValidationError, match="freshness"):
+        validate_signal_bundle(bundle, now="2026-09-26T00:00:01Z")